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Under pressure in the North Sea
Deep-sea divers are vital for the maintenance of offshore oil and gas platforms. They spend 28 days in a small pressurised chamber, emerging only to work on the murky seabed. For Jimmy Duell, of underwater engineering firm Subsea 7, it’s a way of life.
We are aboard the Toisa Polaris (pictured below left) and are working on the Gannet field in the central North Sea sector – which is 95 metres below the surface of the water.
Three of us work in six-hour shifts, although that is about eight hours in total, because it takes about an hour to go down to the seabed in the diving bell from the boat and an hour to get back up.
Once we finish our shift and are back in the chamber, we usually take a shower, eat and try to ring home. However, we breathe a mix of helium and oxygen instead of normal air, so we have “Mickey Mouse” voices. They can be quite difficult for those back home to understand, although my kids find it very amusing! If the phone call home doesn’t work out, we usually email and then watch TV or read. One benefit of the job is that we have support staff who visit regularly to check on our wellbeing and deliver food – so we never have to cook!
Taking its toll
Our main job is the inspection, repair and maintenance of undersea structures, such as pipelines. It’s important to keep them running safely and efficiently throughout their lifespan. Working as a diver is physically draining, particularly when you’re on the seabed doing maintenance and repairs – you could be down there for a couple of hours, using a sledgehammer. But it keeps you really fit – who needs to take water aerobics classes when you could just work as a diver?
Living in the chamber does take its toll on your body. When you come out, the normal atmosphere has less oxygen than you had in the chamber, and so breathing makes you feel really tired initially. You also feel sluggish because, after that long in the chamber, your body stops producing iron, which is essential for energy. So we take vitamin supplements to try and counteract some of the fatigue.
In the dark
Working at seabed level can be challenging when there’s poor visibility – it’s like you’re working in the dark when this happens. The new guys find this especially difficult, although – as with any job – it gets easier as you gain experience.
In general, I feel safe diving. We try to eliminate all potential risks beforehand. If you think about it, people on land are surrounded by dangerous situations – you could get hit by a car or fall down the stairs anytime – but we have people monitoring us continuously by video, so I’m in good hands!
I love being able to pass on some of my experiences and the lessons I’ve learned to the younger divers. It’s nice to go back to projects I’ve worked on and tell people about how I helped to build them.
Back to dry land
One project we worked on from start to finish was the Penguin field, at the northern end of the North Sea sector. We worked 4,000 hours underwater for that job, without any injuries. It’s a nice feeling when you do a good job on something and the companies appreciate it.
Another challenging job – on which we also had no injuries – was one we did six months ago, in the southern sector of the North Sea. The 20-tonne concrete covers that were protecting the gas pipes were corroded, so we had to fix them. Because of the tides, we were only able to work for two out of every six hours, and visibility was poor because the tides stirred up a lot of mud. The job was also quite technically demanding.
After working for 28 days, we get a minimum of two weeks off. I use my breaks to go on holiday with my family. And yes, they are on dry land!
*Subsea 7 has a long-term contract with Shell to provide a range of services for undersea field development, including diving and remotely operated vehicle services in Europe.
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